City reviewing plans for both strip club, apartments at Stimson site
By Nick Claussen
March 24, 2008
Demetrios Prokos presented retail/residential plans to Athens planners Thursday for his Stimson Avenue property where a strip club has been proposed. Three other permit applications pertaining to the adult “gentleman’s club,” however, also have been filed with the city.
In December, Chris Stotts of Athens filed a permit application for his company, Three Wide Entertainment, to place an adults-only gentleman’s (or strip) club in the former New-To-You building at the corner of Palmer Street and Stimson Avenue. Pro Rentals, Inc, owns the property. Prokos is president of Pro Rentals.
Athens Code Director Steve Pierson did not issue a decision on the permit application and instead forwarded it to the Athens Board of Zoning Appeals. On March 11, the board heard the case and said that because the club does not meet any of the definitions in the city code, they could look at potential negative secondary effects of the use on the neighborhood. The board members said the proposed business is not similar to any existing nearby businesses and could hurt the neighborhood, so they turned it down.
Attorney Scott Mergenthaler, who was representing Three Wide Entertainment, said at the time that the case could be appealed to court on First Amendment issues, but that his client, Stotts, hadn’t decided how to proceed.
On March 14, however, Stotts took the next step by filing three more permit applications for the club. These applications are all similar to the original applications, but they all have different uses listed.
The original application listed the use as a “private club/assembly hall,” and the board did not agree with that use. Board member Betty Hollow said during the meeting that she could not “in my furthest imagination call that an assembly hall.”
One of the new applications says the business will be a theater, one says it will be a night club, and one says it will be for entertainment. Under the description of use, all three say it will involve the operation of “a sexually oriented business and/or adult cabaret and/or adult theater with sexually oriented activity for patrons over age 18 without sale or service of alcohol.”
Pierson said Friday that he is not sure how to handle the three new permit applications since they deal with an application the board recently turned down and because they are all similar. He said he will ask Athens Law Director Pat Lang for advice on the applications.
PROKOS TOLD THE Athens Planning Commission on Thursday that he has been working on plans for the property since the 1990s, but said city regulations make it difficult to develop the land. The Tim Horton’s restaurant chain was interested in locating on the property at one time, he said, but was unable to do so because the current zoning does not allow a business on the property to sell food or drink.
“We couldn’t sell doughnuts out of the place,” Prokos said. He added that it is difficult to rent retail space in Athens, and the gentleman’s club business was one of the few businesses that fit with the city code.
“The rent from the place is going to be fantastic,” Prokos said, referring to Three Wide Entertainment’s strip club. He added that he has an obligation to his employees, his family and the bank to make sure the property makes money.
Prokos has denied accusations that the strip club isn’t a serious proposal, and is only meant to make his alleged true intentions — apartments and retail businesses – more palatable to the neighborhood and the city.
Prokos, however, said Thursday that he would like to proceed with his non-strip-club plans for the property, but that city regulations do not allow them. The alternate plans do not meet several of the city code requirements, he added, and he would like to see the city change some of the “no-sense laws.”
The project he presented Thursday calls for a mix of residential and commercial uses. The residential space would include 30 apartment units housing 122 tenants, according to information Prokos filed with the Planning Commission. The apartments would have 67 parking places, and some of the apartments on the Palmer Street side of the project would be on the first floor, Prokos said.
The commercial units could be used for restaurants, retail shops, banks or other businesses, he said. The project would be one continuous building that would have three floors and be 45 feet high, he said.
Pierson, however, said that code requirements indicate that the plans do not have enough parking spaces, have residential property on the first floor when commercial uses are required in that zone, and have an eating and drinking establishment when it is now allowed on the property.
Prokos argued that the code requirements Pierson refers to need to be changed because they do not make sense, and claimed that his project would benefit the city.
Commission member Chris Fahl said the plans meet many of the “smart-growth” objectives she favors for the city, but said she also has concerns about the proposal.
“I agree with you that parking is a huge issue,” Fahl said. She said she also understands Prokos’ frustration about why a restaurant is not allowed on the property.
The plans call for a “very high density” project, though, and that concerns her, she said. She added that while she sees Prokos’ points about parking requirements, she also has questions about his proposal for parking for this project.
Mayor Paul Wiehl said one concern he has is over the height of the buildings and if they would block out much of the sunlight on Stimson Avenue.
The Thursday session was just a preliminary meeting where commissioner members were asked to share their questions and Prokos was invited to give his basic plans. Pierson said further meetings will be held to discuss the plans in detail, and said Prokos will have time to study his project further to see if any changes need to be made.
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